8. Environmental engineers

Just about everything we do has an impact on the environment. Measuring that …is the job of environmental engineers. They apply their engineering skills to assess the … of projected or actual human activity, from the use of off-road recreational vehicles to housing developments. They also work to manage natural … and control pollution. They’re also involved in …, waste disposal and public health issues. Many environmental engineers work as consultants helping their clients … with regulations and clean-up operations at hazardous waste sites. Usually environmental engineers have a four-year college degree. How much training they need and where they get it depends on their specialization. Their specialization also … whether they work indoors or outdoors and how much paper work they have to do. Environmental engineering is a career that combines … and creativity because both qualities are needed to find solutions to environmental issues. When this job is done well the Earth … a little protection so future generations can also enjoy its bounty.

8.3. Translate the phrases given below from English into your language.

an impact on the environment

projected human activity

off-road recreational vehicles

housing developments

to be involved in recycling

public health issues

to comply with regulations

clean-up operations

enjoy bounty

8.4. Listen again and answer the questions

1. What is the job of environmental engineers?

2. What aspects of our life are environmental engineers involved in?

3. Do you think/consider the job of environmental engineers dangerous?

4. What qualities are needed for a career in environmental engineering?

5. Is it easy to find correct solutions to environmental issues?

6. How much training do specialists in environmental engineering need?

9. Sheet metal workers

Sheet metal workers fabricate, install and maintain products from large metal sheets : roofs, sidings, air ducts, gutters, even outdoor signs are made by these highly skilled craftspersons.

Following detailed plans they cut, mold, bend and shape large pieces for installation at a job site.

Sheet metal workers should have knowledge of drafting, reading blueprints, handling tools and welding. The job also requires standing for long periods, bending, squatting and lifting heavy materials. Some workers pick up the trade as helpers who carry metal and clear debris. However formal apprenticeship is the best way to learn the craft. Local chapters of professional associations run these programs. To qualify applicants need a high school diploma or equivalent. Unlike many other construction trades very few sheet metal workers are self-employed. People who are willing to invest the time to master this valuable craft can become respected specialty craftspersons or even the owners of their own business.

10. Turning ore to steel

Turning low-grade ore into the most used metal in the world starts in a 200-foot tall furnace. This is where the iron ore is heated with heat generated by a type of fuel called coke. Coke is a result of burning the impurities in the junk out of coal you don’t need to get to the good stuff which is going to burn cleanly and give you the nice part of clean fire that you need to make steel. It is called the blast furnace because as the ore and coke flow downward they are met by a 16 hundred degree blast of hot air moving at 110 thousand cubic feet per minute. When this is coming to what we call the bosh level of the furnace to nozzles which are called tuyeres (and we have 18 of them depending of the size of the blast furnace) the air is pushing up through a solid burden material. The superheated air ignites coke like charcoal in a grill and heats up the furnace to nearly 4000 degrees Fahrenheit. At this temperature the oxygen is finally blasted away leaving pure molten iron. But it’s also doing something even more amazing. As the heat from the coke flame strips away the oxygen, the carbon in the coke is bonding to the iron.

Under the extreme heat the mixture liquefies, impurities like silica and sulfur rise to the top, the heavier iron sinks to the bottom where it’s thrown out in a glowing molten stream. Every 45 minutes some 500 tons of molten metal called pig iron catches from the tap. It’s called pig iron because it was originally cast into moulds resembling piglets suckling a sow. But ironically till the iron is freed from the oxygen, the molten pig iron that flows from the furnace has a new problem: too much carbon - over 4% which makes the resulting metal much too brittle to become steel That number needs to be reduced to less than 2%.